Sitar star Anoushka Shankar will return to Dubai for a performance at the Dubai Opera on December 20. Deeply rooted in the Indian Classical music tradition, Shankar studied exclusively from the age of nine under her father and guru, the late Ravi Shankar, and made her professional debut as a classical sitarist at the age of 13. By 20, she had made three classical recordings and received her first Grammy nomination, becoming the first Indian female and youngestever nominee in the World Music category.
In 2005, Shankar released her self-produced breakthrough album ‘Rise’, which earned her a second Grammy nomination, and became the first Indian artist to perform at the Grammy Awards. She has since earned a total of sic Grammy nominations.
Shankar earlier this year cancelled a number of shows, saying she was gearing up for a major surgery, without specifying her illness. On Friday, she revealed through an Instagram post that she had had a hysterectormy.
“As of last month, I no longer have a uterus. I had a double surgery: a gynaecological-oncologist performed a hysterectomy due to my large fibroids, which made my uterus as big as if it were six months pregnant, and an incredible surgeon removed multiple further tumours from my abdomen (which I blessedly then heard were all benign). One tumour had grown through my muscles and was visibly protruding from my stomach. There were 13 tumours in all,” the post read.
Shankar also shared she went into “short-term depression” when she heard about her diagnosis and the fear of not having children started haunting her.
Shankar split from her British filmmaker husband Joe Wright in 2018, after seven years of marriage. The couple have two children together.
Tickets to Anoushka Shankar Live in Concert start at Dh200 and will go on sale on September 4.
